FAIRFIELD — Ray Lane and his son, David Grant, had been doing some work Saturday around the shed on their Fairfield property when they went inside their home for a rest.

“I don’t know what happened,” Lane said. “(We) had been trying to clean up. We’d been in the house for about 10 minutes. My wife and son were going to go rent a movie and went outside and said the shed’s on fire.”

Firefighters on the scene around 2:20 p.m. said it was “way too early” to know what caused the large wooden structure at 73 Nyes Corner Road to go up in flames.

“Right now, the fire’s contained, and we’re just doing overhaul,” said Capt. Dave Groder, of the Oakland Fire Department. “When (the structure’s) knocked down, we’ve got to get the fire out, so they’re picking the pile apart to get to the bottom.”

Lane said there were no people or pets in the building and no one was injured. He and his wife, Dorothy Lane, used the shed as a workshop.

“We do crafts. I make clocks and cornhole boards,” Ray Lane said. “I lost all my tools and all the crafts we had in there.”

The structure is insured, according to the Lanes. The three-person family watched from the deck of their double-wide mobile home as firefighters walked through the remains of the shed, extinguishing the last of the fire.

“That’s thousands and thousands just in woodworking tools, and $2,000 for the snowblower attachment for the tractor,”” Ray Lane said, looking on.

Dorothy Lane teared up as she described the sentimental value of what was lost.

“A lot of it’s (Ray’s) dad’s, who passed away,” she said.

Ray Lane added that the vinyl siding on the back wall of their mobile home — nearest to the shed — had melted and would need to be replaced. Though the Lanes and Grant have lived on the property for 20 years, their double-wide was just a year old.

The workshop contained a wood stove, which Ray Lane said he did not have going because of the warm weather. The temperature was in the high 50s Saturday afternoon.

“The only thing I did was plug in the electrical — the temporary electrical,” he said.

Here at MaineToday Media we value our readers and are committed to growing our community by encouraging you to add to the discussion.

To ensure conscientious dialogue we have implemented a strict no-bullying policy. To participate, you must follow our Terms of Use. Click here to flag and report a comment that violates our terms of use.